My first post for Couches on Fire, was going to be an essay that I had kicking around in my head tentatively titled, “Kick the Cliques”. It was to revolve around the fact that when I go to see most local bands, I encounter the same crowd. When Band X plays, you can count on finding their friends, roommates and girlfriends, but the crowd rarely varies from show to show. This can lead to a stagnant scene if you're the type of person who will see your favorite band repeatedly. The point of the essay was to implore the reader to check out bands they’ve never seen, playing music they may not be used too, and in turn, discover something they really like. What had never occurred to me is that the easiest way around this would be to book more diverse shows.
Most shows, local or otherwise, feature a headlining band doing what they do, and two openers who do pretty much the same thing, only not as well. This holds true for almost all types of shows, whether it be rock, folk, punk, indie, jam, hip hop or otherwise. However, last Friday’s show at 123 Pleasant Street crossed genres and made for one of the most entertaining and enjoyable local shows I’ve seen in a long time.
8Bitz got things started around 10:45, a full 45 minutes after I got to the bar. Whether or not bands should start on time has been widely debated within the confines of Couches On Fire, so I won’t beat a dead horse. All I will say is it led to me consuming more Stoney’s than I would have otherwise. I’d never seen the 8Bitz before, mainly because I’m the kind of show-goer who arrives late. Now know what I’ve been missing. These guys are the greatest thing since, well, the original Nintendo Entertainment System. MC Shy Guy and Koopa Killa delivered a hard hitting set of about thirty minutes covering topics ranging from cheat codes to Castlevania to the fact that you had to blow into that machine to get it to work. The only mildly negative thing one can say about these guys is that they need more songs. The 8Bitz are one good reason to never make it to a show late again.
Descension Rate was up next, and though their style of Industrial Metal may not be what I throw on the stereo when I get home from work, they put on a captivating performance. Ryan Postlewait’s blistering guitar playing and Jeff Jordan’s in your face singing these guys were an all out assault on anyone within earshot. Only the most sedate attendee could hold back the desire to bang their head and throw up the horns. I was most impressed with Stanislav Benkovic’s electronic drumming, which was delivered with passion and intensity, and at no time left the listener wishing they were listening to real drums. For over 45 minutes the audience at Pleasant Street was throttled like they deserved a beating.
Thred was up next with their granola laced brand of white-boy funk. Led by Adam Van Scoy’s popping bass lines they implored the crowd to move their asses, and the crowd was more than happy to oblige. Delivering tracks from their forthcoming CD such as “The Juice”, “Listen to Me” and “Toothless Bobby”, Thred provided the “sexual” portion of the show, according to frontman Bryan Pickens, delivering songs geared towards your rear. The crowd at Pleasant Street swelled in the penultimate slot of the evening, and they probably enjoyed the most cross-over success of the evening, their predominantly hippie fanbase infused with a number of indie-rockers and metal heads seeing what the commotion was all about.
By 1am it was time for the final act of the night, Morgantown standard-bearer The Emergency who delivered, as always. Their set was short and sweet, and featured what we’ve all come to know and love about Emergency shows. The songs were catchy, the fans were wild and the rock was on. By this time, your intrepid reviewer was up to his eyeballs in Stoney’s and just generally reveling in what was one of the best local shows in a long time. I thought about how, maybe the scene is getting less clique-ish, and that bands can come together and book exciting local bills that are across the board musically.
I talked to one musician after the show who referred to it to as a “State of the Scene” type show, and I couldn’t agree more. We need more of these.
As I staggered out into the night, I couldn’t help but think of a line from my favorite Emergency song, “Sharper Chins Will Prevail”, because we are, in fact, all in this together.
GO SEE LOCAL MUSIC!
